A nursing home here in our area closed, abruptly, back on May 31. The city of Scranton code officer shut the building. No reason released to the public, or the residents families. All questions were referred to the Pennsylvania Health Department.
We contacted the health department-- repeatedly. Yes, we did receive a statement confirming the closure, and that was about it. More information came out in short bursts. Our own digging turned up a treasure trove of information.
By the way, the state says family members were notified their loved ones were being moved, but we have people who swear they didn't know where their loved ones were, until hours after it happened. I could not imaging how horrible that must have been.
Plus, Lackawanna County became involved, to the point of saying the nursing home isn't its problem, but it did assist with the relocation.
You just have to wonder how people who are in the business of dealing with the public can botch things so badly. Someone, anyone, needed to step up.
It's not that difficult to do things the right way. Get all of the information out, at the beginning. It's the easiest and safest way to avoid "the death of a thousand cuts." The city dropped the ball. The state dropped the ball.
This could have been a one or two day story. Now, it's a saga that's lasting days, maybe weeks.
And, it didn't have to happen.
